“More often than not, a hero’s most epic battle is the one you never see; it’s the battle that goes on within him or herself.” – Kevin Smith

I recently stumbled across this brilliant video of filmmaker Kevin Smith. In it, he gives a fantastic account of how he views criticism. His answer is honest, bustling, sweary (don’t say I didn’t warn you) and full of wisdom.

If you’re interested in making positive change happen. Have struggled with processing criticism from others. Or just want to guard against becoming cynical yourself and to do better work. Work that matters. If any of this applies to you, then this is 9 minutes worth investing.
Don’t get distracted by the fact you’re not a filmmaker or a so-called creative. You see, Kevin’s philosophy can work for anybody, in any line of work. At the heart of his message is the view that we all have a choice. We can either sit back and commentate or we can choose to step up, create and make it better. It can either happen to us or we can happen to it.

If that’s not enough to make you watch the video, well, have a read of a few re-assembled soundbites below.

“…at the end of the day, it’s like, do you want to pick apart something that happened or do you want to create something yourself…. You can either sit around and be entertained or you can go out and be entertaining… We live in an age of democratised media where anybody can do it…. If you percieve deficit, fill the deficite yourself… that’s adding a spoke to the wheel and creating conversation. Creating art…. It’s not enough to comment anymore. You gotta do. Deeds not words…. Don’t talk about it, go f*ckin’ do it” -Kevin Smith

Posted by Steven Thomas

Fan of great ideas and (especially) the people that make them work. Steven is the creator of CurveFinder exploring subjects like collaboration, leadership, creative endeavour and personal development. He's spent over two decades working in the UK media industry holding various senior business and creative leadership roles, most recently with a focus on Digital Transformation and Start-ups. Accomplished coach and mentor. Seth Godin's altMBA Alumni. Lives in Edinburgh with his wife and young family. Always in the kitchen at parties.